opium

In “Raw Opium,” filmmakers Robert Lang and Peter Findlay travel to the border between Afghanistan and Tajikistan to document the illicit global trade of heroin’s raw material. This excerpt is part of The Economist Film Project series of independently produced films aired in partnership between The Economist and the NewsHour. Continue reading →

In other news Wednesday, factory workers at General Motors overwhelmingly ratified a new four-year contract. It doesn’t include any pay raises, but 48,000 hourly employees will get a $5,000 signing bonus plus profit-sharing checks. Also, gunmen in southern Afghanistan attacked and killed eight police at a checkpoint. Continue reading →

Opium production in Afghanistan has been halved, but with supply dwindling, prices might increase and entice farmers to start growing the illicit crop again. That’s the word from the latest U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime report on the issue. Continue reading →

In other news, President Obama’s plan to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay has run into new hurdles, and the State Department said in a report that U.S. efforts to stop the opium trade in Afghanistan is failing. Continue reading →

In other news, worries about the health of Wells Fargo triggered a late day sell-off on Wall Street, and former Afghan foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah agreed to the presidential runoff set for November. Continue reading →

Four hundred U.S. Marines stormed into the Taliban stronghold of Dahaneh in southern Afghanistan early Wednesday morning in a bid to secure the area ahead of next week’s presidential election. Continue reading →

Nearly eight years after the ouster of the Taliban in Afghanistan, military operations and political shifts have changed the daily lives of the Afghan people in unexpected ways. Margaret Warner reports on day-to-day life, the drug trade and corruption in the country. Continue reading →

The United Nations has found “convincing evidence” that 90 civilians were killed in a U.S. airstrike in western Afghanistan last week that prompted the Afghan government to demand more accountability from U.S. and NATO forces. Continue reading →